render his exiftence infinitely worse than nothing, fhould things take their natural courfe, and not be checked and overruled by infinite power and wildom. If God speak to men, he muft fpeak after the manner of men.

REFLECTION S.

FROM the view we have now taken of the evidence of the existence of God, and his character and perfedion, we may infer the following things.

I. WHAT is meant by feeing God, or a true fenfibility of his being and character. God is infinite power, knowledge, goodnefs, wifdom, juftice and righteousness, unchangeable, eternal, every where prefent. To fee God, is to have fome proper difcerning and fenfe of all thefe; and fo as to make fuitable impreflions on the mind. And as the human mind is infinitely unequal to an adequate, comprehenfive view of God; and cannot, at once, fee all that it is capable of feeing, we view this infinite whole, by parts, and may fometimes attend to infinite power, more particularly, or to wisdom or goodnefs, and have a more affecting, pleafing sense of thole, than of other perfections, though not excluding them. A difcerning fenfibility of any thing in God, is feeing him.

II. WE hence learn what a foundation and fource there is in the being and perfections of God, for the complete and eternal happiness of those who know and love him. In God there is every thing that is agreeable and defirable to an infinite degree, and no poffible blemith or defect; nothing that can be in the leaft difagreeable, to a mind of a right tafte and difpofition. His whole character is fuperlatively beautiful, bright and excellent, and it is impoffible it fhould be properly discerned and understood, without giving the most noble and highest

kind of enjoyment! And perfect difcerning and love of this infinitely excellent and glorious being, accompanied with an affurance of his love and favour, must be the moft perfect and higheft kind of happiness of which we are capable, or can have any conception. In this view, the truth and propriety of our Saviour's words, appear in a ftriking light. "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jefus Chrift, whom thou hast sent." And as this infinitely excellent and glorious object, is unchangeable, eternal and infinite, he whose happiness confifts in the knowledge and enjoyment of him, must have not only a perfect and unfailing, but also an increafing happiness; for as the object of his knowledge and love is infinite, there is a foundation for an endless progreffion or increase of knowledge and love, which is the fame with an endless increase of enjoyment and happiness.

III. WE hence learn the amazing folly, wickedness and misery of those who are displeased with the divine character, and real enemies to it. This is true of all those who dislike the laws of God, and are unwilling to be under his government, and obey him; for the govern ment and laws of God, are all like himself, and an expreffion of his own character.

There can be no greater crime, than direct oppofition to God, and hatred of him, difaffection to his exiftence and character; for this must be criminal in proportion to the greatness of God, his importance to being in geneneral, and the excellence of his character, and his authority over us, and his goodness exercised towards us. But he is infinitely great, and therefore his exiftence is of infinite worth and importance, and he is as excellent as he is great, is infinite love and friendship to being in general; and his authority over us is great in proportion to his greatness and perfection, our inferiority to him, and de

pendence

pendence upon him. And what is the juft and certain confequence from this? If it be not that difaffection and oppofition to him is infinitely criminal, that is, a crime of unlimited infinite magnitude; then it cannot be proved to be any crime at all. This is certain, if no reason can be given, or argument offered to prove that oppofition to God, and rebellion against him, is wrong and criminal, which does not equally prove that the crime is infinitely great. Any one will doubtlefs be convinced of this, if he will attend to the point so much as to make a trial.

The mifery of fuch must be great. If infinite perfection and excellence give them no pleasure, but uneafinels and pain, they are of course shut out of all true happiness, and they have no object that can afford them any enjoyment, fuited to their natural capacity and ftrong defires; and therefore must, in all their pursuits of happiness, meet with continual, vexatious disappointment, which must conftantly render them very unhappy. And if they perfift in this difaffection to God, and oppofition to him, and so fall under the juft and proper manifeftations of his displeasure, and are punished in fuffering evil answerable to their crimes, they muft neceffarily be miferable beyond all conception, and without any end!

The folly of this is beyond all expreffion, and the greatest that can be. To turn away from the fountain of all good and perfection, and renounce the only object of true enjoyment and happiness, and seek it in a way in which it is not to be found, but iffues in complete and endless mifery: What inftance of folly can be great like this! No wonder the fcriptures call fuch FOOLS, in an emphatical sense, as if this was the fum of all folly, and there were no fools but these. These, in the highest fense, and in the most striking manner, "call evil good, and good evil; put darkness for light, and light for darknels; bitter for fweet, and fweet for bitter." The scriptures speak of such in the following language. “Be as

tonished

tonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be ye horribly afraid: For my people have committed two evils: They have forfaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cifterns, broken cifterns, that can hold no-water. For my people are foolish, they have not known me, they are fottifh children, and have no understanding They are wife to do evil; but to do good they have no knowledge."

The fcriptures teach

must fee the juftice

IV. THIS fubje&leads us to reflect upon the very crimi nal blindness and great delufion of those who say in their hearts, "There is no God." us there are fuch; and furely we and propriety of calling them fools. "The fool hath faid in his heart, there is no God." That there fhould be any such of the human race, is very fhocking and deplorable; but it is more fo to have it afferted by God, that this is true of all mankind in their natural flate! That all are here declared to be such fools naturally,is certain from the context, which is quoted by St. Paul, and applied to all men.* What awful darkness and delufion muft that be, in which they are, who in the midft of the cleareft light fhining around them, do fhut their eyes as not to fee the most evident and important truth, and to be quite blind to the most excellent, charming, glorious character! And that the heart of man fhould be thus nupid and blind, even when there is a rational conviction, and acknowledgment of the truth, is yet more fhocking. This is the blindnefs of the heart, fpoken of by St. Paul.f "Having the under ftanding darkened,being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindnefs of their heart." When the light that is in men, is, through the moral diforders of the mind, turned into fuch darknefs, how great is that darkness !

And

fo

Pfalm xiv. 3.-Rom. iii. 9, 12.

+ Eph. iv. 18.

And this blindness and delufion must be criminal in proportion to the clear and abundant evidence of the truth, and the infinite importance and excellence of the object, which this darkness hides from the mind; for it is the blindness of the heart, and therefore a moral, voluntary blindness, and cannot be distinguished from difaffection and real oppofition of the heart to the being and character of God; and confequently the whole of it is nothing but fin. In this light therefore, the fcriptures every where reprefent, this fort of blindness and delufion, which originates from the heart, and confifts effentially in the moral diforders and depravity of the mind. All fin is indeed moral darkness and delufion, it is oppofed to all moral truth, and is in its own nature a fort of Atheism, as it does in all the exerercifes of it, deny the God that is above. It is therefore fo far from being unaccountable that the fcriptures fhould affert, that they whofe hearts are wholly under the dominion of fin, fay in their hearts there is no God, that the reason of it may be eafily feen, and it is moft evident and certain, that it cannot be otherwise, and to affert the contrary is a very grofs and palpable contradiction. When all the feelings and exercifes of the heart, are as if there were no God, or are oppofed to his being and moral character, then the heart fays, there is no God: Therefore they who have no true virtue, no love to God, are in the fcriptures faid not to know God; but to be alienated from the life of God, and without world.*

Eph. ii. 12.-iv.18.

God in the

CHAP. III.